The instant invention concerns an orthopedic sandal being provided with a lever arrangement for the corrective treatment of hammer toes.
A lever arrangement in a sandal sole is activated by placing the foot onto the sandal, and to thereby transmit a force on the toes which corrects the position of the hammer toes, and wherein preferably simultaneously a force is transmitted by means of the pressure of the foot intermittently affecting the large toe, forcing same inwardly (medially) for correcting the Hallux Valgus (so-called X-position of the toes). Hammer toes are defined to be partially-stiff toes where the basic joints of the toes are in an over-stretched position and the middle and end joints are in a bent position and are either partially or totally stiff. Previously, successful treatment of hammer toes was only possible by surgery. One type of sandal, however, is known in the art in which a thin aluminum plate is placed from the top onto the stretch-contraction of the toes. An elastic rubber-band is guided around this plate and below the bottom surface of the sandal and is stretched. The stress force of this rubber-band should stretch the hammer toes. However, when the pressure is heavy enough to effect the treatment, blood circulation is cut off. It is furthermore disadvantageous that at the moment of main stress on the front portion of the foot, i.e., during walking, the pressure of the device is released.
Hallus Valgus is a condition wherein the large toe of the foot is partially stiffened at its base joint, with a deviation of its position toward the outer side of the foot and in many instances may be pointed upwards to some extent. Corrective treatment procedures as known in the prior art exist only in the form of daily bandagings and by nightly applications of a splint, exclusively for the separate treatment of the Hallus Valgus. This condition appears, however, mostly in combination with hammer toes. Thus, a treatment for one condition is not necessarily suitable for the other.
Further, hammer toes and Hallus Valgus appear mostly in connection with a pronounced splay foot. A splay foot represents a deformation of the front portion of the foot whereby the transveral arch which is located somewhat behind the center metatarsal heads I-V no longer extend convexly upward, but run convexly downward, whereby the transverse diameter of the frontal portion of the foot is widened.
It is an object of the instant invention to provide for an improvement of the corrective effects of orthopedic sandals and in providing further advantageous embodiments for such a sandal, wherein necessarily also an intermittent correction of the hammer toe should be provided.
In order to solve the above-noted problem, the instant invention proposes mainly that the lever arrangement, or a device effecting said lever arrangement, be located at least in the rearward area of the sole of the sandal, and thus becomes activated primarily by means of a pressure of the rearward portion of the foot. It has been proven that for stretching, i.e., correction of the position of the hammer toes, it is better when thereby the foot not yet be raised, i.e., the basic joints of the toes are not overstretched. This effect of the instant invention is still further strengthened in that when a person is standing up, or walking, the pressure of the rearward portion of the foot, namely the heel, is relatively strong so that there develops in the whole a correspondingly strong stretching effect. Thus, it is during the beginning of the step that the load of the lever arrangement by the rearward area of the foot is strongest, in order that the stress be lesser during the final phase of the rolling-up of the foot when walking, i.e., in the second phase of the walking movement, until with the lifting off of the foot, the stress returns to zero.
A hammer toe formation appears often in connection with a splay foot. The instant invention therefore proposes further that a splay foot bandage encircling the foot be attached to the lever arrangement or device in such a manner so that with the intermittent pressure of the foot, the splay foot bandage presses the foot together in a proper corrective sense. This will produce on one hand, an intermittent and thereby especially effective correction of the splay foot; and on the other, the extreme correction of the hammer toe position results simultaneously in the spreading of the front portion of the foot, which, however, is prevented by the aforementioned characteristics of the present invention.
The instant invention proposes further that means for stretching the large toe are coupled with the intermittent correction of Hallux Valgus. This results in a stretching of the basic joint of this toe in order to improve the metabolism in the field of this joint. This stretching can be done together with the movement of the large toe to the medial.
It can be seen that a sandal made to the design of the present invention can be manufactured with very simple means and therefore at economical costs. Thus, the corrective treatment of hammer toes is thereby made simple and effective. There exists no danger of cutting off blood circulation in the foot. The present invention represents to the patient a substantial improvement with regard to time and money, since normally intermittent treatment of these conditions of the foot was possible only by means of physical therapy. The treatment costs necessary for physical therapy are many times higher than the purchasing price of a sandal in accordance with the present invention. It has been proven that it is difficult and very expensive for a patient to subject oneself regularly to a physical therapy treatment. In contrast therewith, the patient is able to wear the inventive sandal at any suitable occasion. The utilization of the inventive sandal has an influence on the front portion and the toes of the foot which counteracts the damaging effects caused by modern shoes which are pointed at the front and have heels which are excessively high.